“The solution to this floundering Obamacare system – created by the Democrats without a single Republican vote – is certainly not what Democrats proposed today—to continue wasting Americans’ hard-earned dollars… I hope my Democrat colleagues will stop playing their political games and work with Republicans to actually lower the cost of healthcare for the American people.”
WASHINGTON—Today, United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) spoke on the Senate floor slamming Democrats so-called healthcare plan that has broken the United States healthcare system.
Remarks as prepared for delivery:
Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the unaffordability of healthcare, a crisis created and perpetuated by my Democratic colleagues across the aisle.
15 years ago, without a single Republican vote, Congressional Democrats authored and signed into law the so-called, “Affordable Care Act” – also known as “Obamacare.” Ever since, Congressional Democrats—without Republican support, have continued to prop up this failed system with tax credits and bogus incentives to hide a broken foundation. Congressional Democrats even expanded these tax credits under the guise of the pandemic—on a wholly partisan basis, not once, but twice, which included setting the deadline for their expiration this year.
Now they are expecting the American people to believe that Republicans are culpable, when Democrats are clearly the ones who broke the system.
When Obamacare passed in 2010, Democrats promised the American people that this legislation would make insurance affordable.
Sadly, this promise has gone unfulfilled.
I’ve heard from constituents across my home state of Tennessee, who are grappling with the realities of this broken system. In 2014, the premium for a benchmark plan was $197. In 2026, that premium is expected to be $711, an increase of 260%. As if this wasn’t enough evidence, take this story from a constituent in East Tennessee who is self-employed. He and his wife own and operate a consulting firm. For his family of three, their insurance premium, for the same exact plan they had this year, will increase from $1,400 a month to $2,200. No new coverage, no additional family members. Just higher costs from an inefficient and fraud-ridden system that is collapsing under its own weight.
This is not affordable health insurance. If health insurance truly was affordable, then Tennesseans, like the one I have just mentioned, would not be forced to rely on taxpayer subsidies just to afford their monthly premium. Not to mention, out-of-pocket costs like deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance.
Beyond affordability, the Democrats promised to “fix” the healthcare system without adding to the national deficit. Their reforms were supposed to “lower the deficit” by more than $100 billion dollars. Instead, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Obamacare has cost taxpayers an additional $1.3 trillion. The deficit has continued to grow, with healthcare spending being a major driver of that deficit. Welcome to socialism…
Obamacare was supposed to “end abuses by health insurance companies” and create a “robust and competitive” marketplace.
Well, Obamacare has been nothing but a profit-making machine for insurance companies.
Obamacare has funneled tens of billions of dollars, especially in pandemic-era subsidies, directly to insurance companies, and we’ve seen insurance company profits balloon to historic levels..
Now, let’s talk about the fraud that prevails in the Obamacare system. We will never have a competitive marketplace when that marketplace is riddled with fraud.
As a test for the ease and extent of the fraud that plagues Obamacare, the GAO applications for fictitious individuals—all using invalid information—and submitted them to the federal Obamacare exchange for enrollment. The results—shocking. Of the 24 invalid applications submitted, 23 – more than 95 percent – of the applications were approved for subsidized health insurance.
As of this September, eighteen of the fake enrollees were still covered. Not only did the Obamacare exchange not verify these fraudulent identities, but insurers didn’t either. Why? Perhaps because for those 18 applicants, more than $10,000 per month was paid to the insurance companies for these non-existent patients. No costs, no services provided—it all falls to the bottom line profitability of the insurers.
The solution to this floundering system – created by the Democrats without a single Republican vote – is certainly not what Democrats proposed today—to continue wasting Americans’ hard-earned dollars.
Earlier today on the Senate floor there was a stark difference of views—on one side, Senate Democrats proposed a three-year extension, along with the repeal of certain anti-fraud provisions that we passed during the Working Families Tax Cut. More fraud, more waste, more ill-obtained profits for insurers. This unserious, partisan proposal would cost a whopping $83 billion dollars and would not lower premiums for 93% of Americans by a single cent.
I opposed that effort.
Instead, Republicans are offering real solutions. Solutions that will lower benchmark premiums by 11%, save $30 billion dollars by appropriating cost-sharing reductions, and empower patients to make their own healthcare decisions.
There are further Republican solutions being debated right now, solutions that add serious fraud protections and ensure that wealthy Americans are not receiving taxpayer subsidies, solutions that ensure no federal funds are used for abortions, that ensure illegal immigrants aren’t accessing these credits to free-ride and overwhelm the American healthcare system.
I hope my Democrat colleagues will stop playing their political games and work with Republicans to actually lower the cost of healthcare for the American people.
###